Four months into his post at the helm of East Kilbride’s community policing team, Chief Inspector Pat O’Callaghan revealed crime in the town is at an all-time low.

Meeting with the News to reflect on crime and disorder in the local community, the police chief highlighted a “significant” reduction in crime and described East Kilbride District as “a very safe place to live”.

Assaults are down by 14.6 per cent and serious assaults have dropped by 16.7 per cent. This means there were 58 less victims of assault or serious assault compared with last year.

During the week of Hallowe’en nine people were victims of attackers compared to 30 people in 2012 – a reduction of nearly two-thirds.

Chief Inspector O’Callaghan said: “For me, in an area with this size of population where violence isn’t a huge problem for us, that reduction is quite significant.”

There were 256 less calls (6.8 per cent) reporting incidents of disorder this year. This period included one of the country’s hottest summers on record which would traditionally see a rise in disorder-related incidents.

There were 599 people reported for street drinking since the start of the financial year – a rise of nearly 30 per cent.

Chief insp O’Callaghan explained: “This tells me that we’re policing in the right areas and responding to public concerns.

“If we can get in early, take alcohol off people and stop them drinking, that has a real positive impact on violence and disorder later in the evening.”

He continued: “One of the main techniques we use for this is stop search. We’ve searched over 8000 people this year and 16 per cent of those individuals were found to be in possession of things they shouldn’t be. That can be alcohol, drugs or offensive weapons. If we’re removing that, then we’re making a positive impact.”

On the roads, 712 people were reported for not wearing a seatbelt, compared with 310 last year – a rise of 129 per cent. The number of uninsured drivers and speeding motorists also incresed to 117 and 214 respectively.

Chief insp O’Callaghan added: “I want to reassure people my community policing officers are tasked with one thing only – and that’s keeping people safe.”

A drop in crime in the town, the chief inspector says, is the result of a highly committed team of officers and the ongoing support of East Kilbride public.

These factors, he said, enables him to effectively identify and focus on key offenders and problematic areas.

Police Scotland launched their Winter Safety Campaign this week which runs until the end of February. There will be high-visibility patrols out on the beat in an effort to keep people safe during and after the festive period. Officers will be carrying out anti-robbery patrols to ensure festive shoppers are safe, noisy party strategies, visiting licensed premises and keeping people safe on the roads.